Egypt’s opposition claims to have 22 million signatures for Morsi’s resignation ahead of mass protests

An Egyptian opposition supporter holds a crossed-out picture of President Mohammed Morsi as hundreds gather for a demonstration against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square on June 29, 2013 (AFP Photo / Gianluigi Guercia)

Pressure on embattled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi is building, as opposition claim more people want him to resign, than those who voted him into office. There are fears that huge protest rallies scheduled for Sunday will descend into violence.

Activists for the Tamarod, or Rebellion, campaign – who the
Prosecutor General says will be investigated for trying to
overthrow the regime - claim they have gathered 22.1 million
signatures since April, calling for Morsi to step down after just
one year in power. 13.2 million people voted for the President in
the closely-contested run-off last year.

The collection is timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary
of Morsi inauguration on June 30 – a symbolic date chosen by the
opposition, who believe that protests across all the major cities
in the country will attract millions, and trigger a repeat
election.

Islamist supporters of the President have rejected the
signatures, saying the numbers have been vastly inflated,
maintaining that the petition has no legal power.

"How do we trust the petitions?" declared Muslim
Brotherhood member Ahmed Seif Islam Hassan al-Banna in an
interview with AP. "Who guarantees that those who signed were
not paid to sign?"

The anti-Morsi coalition comprises a wide range of political
forces – from the urban elites who initiated the protests against
former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, to Mubarak’s associates,
who have been shifted from power, to minorities concerned about
their rights.

"You cannot say that Morsi has failed as a President - he has
been able to do very little," Ahmed Badawi from Egyptian
think-tank TRANSFORM told RT. "But he has failed as a person
who could create a stable framework that could avoid the exact
kind of trouble we are seeing now."

On the eve of the protests, a group of as many as 22 anti-Morsi
deputies has resigned from the Shura Council, Egypt’s upper
parliamentary chamber. The Shura Council has been in charge of
legislation in the country after the Muslim-dominated lower house
was dismissed in acrimony by the Supreme Court a year ago (new
elections have still not been scheduled).

"We gave them a chance to lead a reconciliation but they
didn't. The resignation comes to support the popular trend in
Egypt," said Mona Makram Ebeid, one of those who resigned.

The opposition accuses Morsi of trying to monopolize political
power in the country, by proposing an openly Islamist
constitution, stuffing the bureaucracy with his associates, and
banning the courts from overruling his decisions.

“The agenda is not about health reform or how to build an
Egyptian Harvard or Yale,” said Moataz Abdel Fattah, a
political scientist at the American University in Cairo. “It
is just a competition over who should preside and set the
rules.”

Protesters also say he has mishandled the economy, with
electricity and fuel shortages becoming a regular feature of
daily life, as the government tries to secure more loans from
international financial organizations.

“The executive branch has no clue how to run Egypt. It’s not a
question of whether they are Muslim Brothers or liberals — it’s a
question of people who have no vision or experience. They do not
know how to diagnose the problem and then provide the solution.
They are simply not qualified to govern,” wrote Nobel Peace
Prize winner and opposition figurehead Mohammed ElBaradei in
Foreign Policy magazine.

Morsi, a former engineer who spent a large part of his life in
the US, has repeatedly claimed that he has been held back from
carrying out key reforms by a mistrustful bureaucracy, which he
says is still staffed by Mubarak sympathizers, and by an
opposition that has questioned his every move. He has also hinted
that “outside forces” are setting him up to fail.

"Morsi can either make concessions or he can increase the
level of violence. So far he has offered very few
concessions," Said Sadek, a sociologist from the American
University in Cairo, told RT.

Tension has already neared boiling point as contesting factions
occupy the same streets.

In the past week at least seven people – including an American
college student – have died in clashes, with several hundred more
injured. Five Muslim Brotherhood offices across the country were
set on fire by angry protesters.

In return, Morsi’s more radical Islamist supporters have openly
urged the president to initiate a crackdown on dissent, calling
protesters “thugs”.

"Vigilance is required to ensure we do not slide into civil
war," warned Cairo’s respected Islamic Al-Azhar institute.

Although Cairo has been relatively quiet – with sit-ins on both
sides - some neighborhoods have blocked up their doors in
anticipation of ransacking not only by political activists, but
opportunist marauders. Most flights out of the Egyptian capital
have been booked over the weekend as tourists and diplomats flee
the country en-masse.

The outcome of the protests may hinge on intervention from the
army and security forces.

The army, which stepped in during the Arab Spring two years ago,
has promised to prevent “an attack on the will of the
people”, and to intervene if one of the antagonists incites
violence. Both sides say that they are confident the military
will back them if the violence escalates.

The police, which has been notably reluctant to protect Muslim
Brotherhood offices, and residences occupied by its official, is
not expected to curtail the protests.